Automakers with a successful model on their hands face a daunting challenge with each new model year: how do you refine a design just enough to keep buyers interested without alienating the drivers who have made that model so successful? In the case of the Ford F-150, one imagines that’s a serious concern for the designers and engineers in Dearborn.
Earlier this year, a CNBC report on the success of the F-series hailed “its decadeslong U.S. sales dominance.” All of which raises a few questions for today’s announcement of the 2024 Ford F-150 — questions that are less along the lines of “What’s changing?” and are more along the lines of “What’s new?” and “How does this relate to the existing ways F-150 drivers are using their trucks?”
One option suggests that F-150 owners are taking their trucks into the wilderness. Among the biggest changes Ford is introducing for 2024 is an entirely new configuration, known as the Tremor. It’s intended as a version of the F-150 that’s suitable for off-roading without losing what Ford dubbed “the truck functionality of F-150.” Both it and the 2024 version of the Raptor feature an optional bumper that seems designed to facilitate further customization — installing a winch kit is one option buyers will have..
How does Ford differentiate between the Tremor and the Raptor? The announcement calls the latter a “desert racer” and points to “muddy bogs” and “cornfields” as some of the landscapes from where they derived inspiration for the former.
Among the other options available on the 2024 F-150 is a newly-designed tailgate, known as the Pro Access Tailgate. (The traditional version will remain available as well.) This looks to be designed in such a way that the tailgate door will not collide with a trailer, and will provide anyone unloading objects with plenty of room to reach in and grab them. The door will stop at 37-degree, 70-degree and 100-degree positions.
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Is the electric pickup ready for prime time? Or is it still only for early adopters?In making the announcement, Ford also noted that options that had been, well, optional in previous years — including a Class IV trailer hitch and an extended range fuel tank — are now standard.
The standard engine for the F-150 is the 2.7-liter EcoBoost, and buyers will have a few options to choose among when it comes to engine power: in addition to the 2.7-liter EcoBoost, there are also 3.5-liter EcoBoost and PowerBoost options. The F-150 Raptor offers a 3.5-liter High Output, and the Raptor R offers a 5.0-liter V8 and a 5.2-liter supercharged V8.
There’s a lot for potential buyers to sift through here — though it’s worth mentioning that Ford claims to have reduced the complexity of ordering an F-150 by 90% for the 2024 model year. We’ll see how well that works out as buyers looking for a truck for personal use, business use or some combination of the two start placing their orders.
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